Thank You Sewnvelopes

Holiday thank you time!  Did you not get what you wanted for the holidays?  Well it doesn't matter, either way you should say thank you!  I whipped up some fancy 'sewnvelopes' to hold an awesome thank you card that Axel illustrated.  The front of the sewnvelope has a vinyl pocket to stick the card into for easy viewing (shown 3 pictures down).  The back side pictured directly below I made with a little snap pocket to put a little monetary surprise/Christmas bonus for my building's door-people.  They were super easy to make, wanna learn how?

Feast your eyes on the simplified individuals of myself, Axel, and of course Teeny cat.  I'm not sure what's in those boxes but it doesn't look like anything I got for the holidays... oh well.  It didn't snow either, just saying. 

Moving right along, the size of the sewnvelope you make will depend on the size of the card you have/made.  The card Axel made was 3.5" x 5" so if you want to make a bigger one, add accordingly.

I made four so I thought it would be fun to make them all in different colors but feel free to make them whatever colors you like, even mix and match!  I used coated nylon but just a 100% woven cotton would work too, even leather would be cool if you're comfortable sewing it.  So let's get started, you will need four pieces to make the whole thing: 

Front top:  7" x 5 3/4"

Front bottom:  4 1/2" x 5 3/4"

Back:  11" x 5 3/4"

Clear vinyl:  4" x 5 3/4"

Take the vinyl and two shorter pieces and line them up like so:

Sew the two closest sides in the image, right sides together 1/4" (All seam allowances in this project will be 1/4").  

Top stitch the seam you just sewn with the vinyl not folding back on itself to reduce bulkiness.

It should now look like this!!  Next cut the top into an envelope shape.  I eyeballed about 2 1/4" from the top as where to make the angle.  Mark this spot on both sides, mark the top middle and cut!  You should have this:

Do the same thing to the long piece you have left and sew the two pieces right sides together leaving the bottom open but sew the corners like the picture below, making it easier to turn and press the corners.

Once it's sewn, turn it right side out.  Fold the bottom open edge so it lays flat and press it with an iron on a very low setting if you're using nylon.  If you're using cotton, a high setting is fine.

Top stitch your folded and pressed edge around the corners like so:

Oh getting so close!!  Fold the fabric in half with the vinyl facing the outside so it looks like an envelope.  Fold it over so that about 1/8" of the vinyl is showing on the bottom and the flap almost meets the envelope corners.  You don't want it to go on or over the corners because the pointed flap won't fold as nicely.  Sew around the outside starting at the folded edge up to the top point of the envelope but don't sew on the folded part.

Time for snaps!  I used white snap fasteners.  They come in a pack with a bunch of them but make sure you get the plier tool to put them on or you will be hammering for days, and annoying your neighbors.

Mark a spot in the top middle of the sewnvelope point, cut a hole and attach the snap and socket.  Fold it over to see where it hits to make the second hole and apply the stud and snap.  Now you're finished!!!  Admire your work and then go make another!!!

As a bonus check out the repeating pattern (from a previous post) that I made into wrapping paper.  I also drew a super neat holiday party bear tag that really just brought the present all together.  Not sure how I'm going to step it up for next year, I better get to work!

Color of the Year: Mint

I'd have to say the my favorite color for a while now has been mint which is interesting considering I have been steering further and further away from green in my top 5 top 10 color category.  I have also been more appreciative of pops of color.  I am usually all about saturation in every way possible, cramming every color of the rainbow in an outfit to satisfy some color quota but lately I am realizing that color becomes much more interesting when you pair it with more neutral tones.  2 years ago this statement was unheard of to me!  I didn't even have tan, black, or grey fabric to get crafty with because I only used bright saturated colors.  Now I'm making briefcase totes and throwing salmon, tan, and white together with a bright blue zipper.  It's madness.

Here's a few inspirational images I've collected over time in our featured color:
Get inspired!

Chris Benz, Deluxe, Purl Bee, Daniel Palillo, Stripe Loose Sweatshirt, T&F Slack, Native, Tyson Anthony Roberts

UK Feature Sneak Peek

Lately I've been making a bunch of super neat new things for a special UK feature that will go live late December.  The feature sale will include awesome products, limited edition items, & one of a kind samples.  Since I made so many things I didn't want to cram it all into one blog post and overwhelm you so it will be a two parter.  Here's part one, sneak peek!

 Handmade clay necklaces

Granny cat sweatshirt

Granny cat tote

Space triangle pouch

 Blue/red mini duffle

 Neon camp bag

Alt. view

Multi briefcase tote

Stay Tuned!!

New 5 Panel Walter Hats + Wallets

If you haven't seen them already, check out Mokuyobi Threads' new 5 panel hats in 8 different prints!  You may recognize some of the prints from earlier posts!  All of the hats have a contrasting solid color lining and adjustable buckle closure to fit a large range of head sizes.  Don't forget to note the new spray painted boxes from the last post in our new display sporting wallets and fabric covered pins.

We also have new tri-fold wallets in tons of new patterns that are pictured below looking pretty snazzy in their new display case.

All the hats!!  With so many different patterns it's definitely hard to pick but I'd have to say my favorite is the sky blocks print, pictured bottom left in the image below.

All of the new wallets lined up:

 Adventure Party

Arrows

Rain

 

Button Style- Comes with a fabric pin to bring an awesome 3D element to the hat!

 Gems

 Triangle Podium

 Sky Blocks

Triangles

Display-o-rama

Probably the hardest part of doing craft fairs is getting your display just right.  I've been doing them for a while and every time I make tweaks and changes to improve my display but I'm never satisfied with it.  When looking around the Brooklyn Flea one day I found a bunch of awesome fixer upper items to step up my display game.  The first was this wooden mess of a drawer with a rusty handle that was dirty, weathered, and chipping that I got a good deal on that had little cubby holes that fit my wallets perfectly.  After I sanded it down for an hour or so it started looking pretty sweet:

Next came the gesso spray even though the sanded wood looked pretty nice, I wanted to give it a more finished look:

I also got a bunch of wooden boxes that were super cheap and super gross.  After cleaning them with a damp paper towel I started to apply the gesso to these guys:

Once they dried it was time to get fancy with some color spray paint.  Totally transformed!

Here's the three boxes finished also shown with a sweet metal tin I got that I also spray painted, of course.

I came across some awesome mason jars with tension tops and thought they would be really rad filled with paint:

I really love how these came out.  Mini photo shoot:

All the colors!!!!

I left the inside of the drawer sections white and painted the edges to really make the sections pop and painted the handle fluorescent red for another contrast.

Totally official new display!

See it in action in the next posts!